


Summer Away

by Kobo



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Farm/Ranch, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fluff, Galen Erso cameo, Teenagers, Written as a birthday gift
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-30
Updated: 2017-08-30
Packaged: 2018-12-21 22:19:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11953827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kobo/pseuds/Kobo
Summary: When her father decides to send Jyn to a summer camp at Andor Ranch, Jyn expects to spend the summer in a state of homesickness and loneliness, but spending the summer away from the city may be better for her than she imagined.





	Summer Away

**Author's Note:**

  * For [angstlairde](https://archiveofourown.org/users/angstlairde/gifts).



> A very Happy Birthday to [Finns-Roses](http://finns-roses.tumblr.com/)! 
> 
> Awhile ago, she and I were discussing different RebelCaptain AUs and (after discovering we both loved horses) she suggested an AU in which Jyn is sent to the a ranch owned by Cassian's family for the summer. 
> 
> I hope I did your idea justice and I hope you enjoy!

If Jyn gained nothing from these two weeks, at least she’d have the landscape to enjoy. An hour outside out of the city and into the Arizona wilderness had its perks; mountains dotted the landscape towards the West, the tallest peaks dusted with snow, and to the East ran the Little Colorado River, which pooled into a lake on the property where Jyn now stood. Thanks to lake, small clumps of trees – real trees, not the cacti they had in the southern half of the state – littered the grounds.

It was, without question, strikingly beautiful.

“It’s just for a few weeks, Stardust.” Her father closed his door of the car and stood in front of her, resting his hands on her shoulders. “And then I’ll be home and you’ll be right there with me.”

Jyn nodded, determined to keep all signs of dissatisfaction with this arrangement off her face. Her father had been offered a chance to continue his physics research with scientists at CERN, the largest facility for particle research in the world, outside of Geneva. It was an opportunity Galen would be hard pressed to deny – in fact, it was an honor he had been working towards for years – but, knowing how much time he would spend in the lab, he worried taking Jyn to a country whose language she didn’t speak and culture she didn’t know would be dangerous, especially considering Jyn’s knack for finding trouble wherever she went.

So Galen had found another alternative for Jyn’s summer vacation: a family-owned ranch designed to give city kids a way to experience life working off the land. Wake at 5:30 in the morning, pastures of horses surrounding the place, work so hard you fall into bed exhausted at the end of the day. Or, at least, that’s the image Jyn had of the place.

Jyn wasn’t opposed the idea. Jyn enjoyed the outdoors, hiking and stargazing and the like; she had even gone through a serious horse phase as a child, but for eight years now, ever since Jyn’s mother had died before Jyn’s eighth birthday, her life had been centered around her Papa: she’d spent her days after school alongside him in the lab and her evenings curled up near him as they both read, her whatever book was currently assigned by her English teacher and him the newest publications in physics research. They were each other’s rock, the most important part of their lives, but, as Jyn grew older (college was only a few years away now), Galen worried perhaps he was _too_ much a part of his daughter’s life, that perhaps he was stunting her growth by keeping her drawn to his side.

Hence the summer of separation, him to flying off to his work and her exploring who she was without her father to define her.

“That’s something you’ll be able to see here, you know,” Galen noted when Jyn didn’t reply, his eyes scanning the clear sky.

“See what, Papa?”

“The stars. Real ones, whole galaxies covering the night skies.” He smiled down at her. “Not the few we can see in the city.”

“They’ll make me think of you,” she assured him with a smile. (It did not wobble. It did _not_.)

“Oh, Stardust,” Galen said with a sad smile, “everything will make me think of you.”

A lump in her throat choked her next words, so Jyn threw her arms around her father’s neck instead, burying her face into the collar of his shirt, inhaling the scent of coffee and old books that clung there. Hugging her back tightly, Galen kissed the top of her head.

Jyn pulled away as someone called a hello from the porch of the property’s main cabin. A woman, a few years older than Galen, approached them, a boy, clearly her son, following a few steps behind.

“I’m Renata Andor, the property’s manager,” the woman greeted, a little bit breathless, as she reached them, extending her hand. Indicating the boy who followed her, she said, “And this is my youngest son, Cassian.”

“Jyn Erso.” She tried to smile (she really did) as she shook the woman’s hand and nodded to the boy. Up close, Jyn determined he was about her age, perhaps a bit older.

“And I’m her father, Galen,” Papa said next as he too took her hand.

“A pleasure to meet you both,” she told them, her smile stretched just a little bit too tight. “Cassian, why don’t you help Jyn take her bags inside, show her the girl’s cabin? I’ll give Mr. Erso a quick tour of the land.”

Cassian nodded, pulling the first of Jyn’s bags out of the open trunk. She yanked the second one onto her shoulder before he could reach for it, determined to show him she did know how to work for herself. His hand hesitated midair for a moment before he chuckled. Jyn stayed quiet as they trekked to the first of two cabins past the main house.

Cassian broke the silence first. “City girl, huh?”

Jyn gave the boy what her mother would have called call “a look.” The sarcastic, eyebrows-to-the-sky, “Do I look like I care what you’re saying?” kind of look Jyn had perfected before she’d started kindergarten.  

“Your boots are clean,” he shrugged, by way of explanation. They were, Jyn had to admit. The only form of boots she’d owned before this summer were wore out hiking boots that had covered the trails over South Mountain countless times over the years. Galen had bought new boots – real work boots, not the glittery kind of cowboy boots girls wore to country music festivals – for her a few weeks before. “I hope you didn’t spend too much money on them, because they won’t be clean by the end of the first week.”

“I’m not that delicate,” she shot at him. “I can handle a bit of mud.”

“Good.” As they neared the house, he asked, “Where are you from?”

“Phoenix.”

“Also good,” he grinned. “You know how to survive the heat.”

“Yeah,” Jyn agreed as he opened the door to the cabin, wiping his shoes off (those, Jyn noted, were covered in mud and noticeably not new) and ushering her in before him. “It’s called air conditioning.”

“I hope you’ll settle for cold water and some shade,” he told her with a half a grin, “because that’s the best you’ll get out here.”

 

* * *

 

 

Cassian left her alone to unpack after leaving her with some basic instructions. A packet waited on the bed labeled with her name, he told her, with a schedule and a map of the grounds; other campers would be arriving within the next few hours; she was free to explore until dinner, which would be served up in the main house, but he warned her to be careful around the animals until she got to know them. Jyn gave a quick goodbye to her father – knowing him, he’d delayed packing for his trip to Switzerland, and his plane left in a little under twenty-four hours, so he needed to return home soon – and flopped back onto her bed. (She’d been assigned a top bunk but, given how many sore muscles she expected to nurse over her time here, Jyn had considered it ideal to swap her assignment before her bunkmate arrived. None of the other girls milling around noted the switch.)

She met the other Andors at dinner: Estrella, the oldest and the only daughter, had taken charge of the kitchen by ordering the next oldest, Lucas, to carry the trays of completed food to each of the three long tables that filled the dining room. Cassian and his closest brother, Carlos, stumbled in the doorway at exactly six P.M., pointing at the clock and insisting to their sister they were, in fact, on time. She’d merely rolled her eyes before reminding them if they smelled of the barn (and they did bear the unfortunate marks of spending the last few hours surrounded by the horses), they would eat in the barn.

A chaotic stream of bickering reigned over the siblings until their mother walked through the door. Instantly, as if Estrella had not been waving her finger in her Lucas’s face a moment before, all the Andor siblings fell into an efficient assembly line, producing trays of steamed vegetables and rice and various forms of meat to stack upon the tables.

Mrs. Andor, whose curly hair had slowly escaped its neat bun over the day, leaving wasps of hair hanging over her temples, let out a large exhale seeing dinner prepared. Estrella rubbed a hand over her mother’s back as Cassian pressed a kiss to her temple.

Jyn, who was sitting between the girls who slept in the bunks beside her, Leia from northern Colorado and Shara from southern California, seemed to be the only one who noticed the familial exchange, most of the other campers absorbed in creating tentative friendships with the people they’d be sharing their bunks with for the next few weeks. Jyn thought she gained an important insight from her observations, however: while the city kids came to the camp to experience a few weeks away and perhaps to show off the new, fancy shoes they would rarely ever wear again, the Andors lived this life day in and day out. They ran a business, balancing keeping a horde of teenagers safe from livestock and themselves, as well as kept a ranch operating. Neither of which were an easy feat, but, combined, Jyn imagined it gave birth to extreme stress levels for all members of the family.

Regardless, Mrs. Andor greeted the campers, about 50 in all, who ranged in age from ten to eighteen, with a warm smile on her face. Each of the Andor children introduced themselves as well, and explained which part of daily activities they would oversee. Estrella ensured the campers completed their daily shores; Lucas led treks down to the river or to the mountains; Carlos and Cassian were in charge of the animals on the ranch (horses and cattle and pigs, _oh_ my, Jyn thought with a smirk) and teaching the campers the proper ways to interact and care for them.

The campers were sent back to their cabins after dinner, with a suggestion from the Andors to take advantage of the early night; wakeup call would be early for their stay and they should enjoy the rest while they could. And, indeed, as the first fingers of sunlight danced over the colorful landscape, Mrs. Andor flipped the overhead light on in the girl’s cabin, calling them all to breakfast.

Jyn groaned, stuffing her face further into the pillow. She was much more of a night owl by nature.

“Up, up!” Leia ordered, her ever present smile clear in her voice as she poked at Jyn’s shoulder. “We gotta go get breakfast!”

Apparently _she_ had no problem with mornings.

Jyn had just rubbed the sleep out of her eyes as she and Leia headed for the stables and their first lesson with the horses. (The Andors didn’t serve coffee to the campers, Jyn discovered. Reasonable, considering how young some of the campers were, but Jyn inherited both her parents borderline addiction to the substance and the summer suddenly darkened without the presence of coffee in her mornings.)

Cassian stood by the fence of the paddock, rubbing the nose of a steel grey mustang as the group approached. He nodded to the group, still focused on the animal in front of him, until of the boys leaned towards the fence.

“Don’t touch it!” He warned, his voice sharp with urgency. The boy drew his hand back quickly, slightly abashed but confused. Cassian turned to the whole group. “The fences are all electrocuted to keep the animals in. Otherwise, the feisty ones like this one—“ he jerked his head to indicate the mustang “—would undoubtedly try to escape. Best to keep your fingers away from it.”

Beckoning them forward, he led them into the barn, pulling one of the older mares out of her stall and into the aisle.

“Before we can teach you to ride them, you have to learn to care for them. Here,” he pulled out a box of grooming supplies and showed the campers how to use the different brushes. After dividing them into groups of four and distributing brushes, Cassian walked three more horses into the crossties of the grooming stalls and had them copy what he’d just done.

“You’ve done this before,” he said over Jyn’s shoulder as he watched her rub a curling comb in small circles over the withers of a chestnut mare.

Jyn nodded. “My mother rode horses as a child and signed me up for lessons when I was younger. It’s been years, though.” She shrugged as the images of hours spent in a barn like this one filtered through her mind. Years had faded the memories, but the smile on her mother’s face as Jyn had warmed to the animals stood out to her.

Those memories, she thought, were half the reason her father had decided on sending Jyn here for the summer. A connection back to her mother, a gentle reminder that, though Lyra was gone from their lives, she stayed with them.

“Not bad for a city girl,” Cassian smiled. “But I’ll bet you road English, not Western.”

Jyn shrugged. “I had to leave something for you to teach me.”

The difference between the two disciplines, Jyn learned quickly, was vast. English saddles and bridles were more structured, built for elegance and show. Western tack was looser, designed by those who valued practicality and hours of hard labor. Jyn figured it wouldn’t be too difficult to transfer her knowledge of one to the other, but, with how Cassian teased her technique of tacking the horse, no such transfer was guaranteed.

Her riding lessons were years ago, she told Cassian the first time he assured her lessons would be a breeze for her, and she barely remembered anything she’d learned. Muscle memory, he assured her right back, was a powerful thing and she shouldn’t be so quick to doubt herself.

(When she was able to smoothly trot around the arena without nearly bouncing out of the saddle long before the other campers, he didn’t resist giving her an expression that read “I told you so.”)

Every day, Jyn found herself looking forward to her time in the barn with the horses. Call it nostalgia or perhaps her skill with the horses, but Jyn’s day brightened as she entered the barn and, on days when she didn’t have assigned tasks with the horses, found herself spending her free time with Cassian.

“How come you don’t share your gelding with the others?” Jyn asked him one day, leaning against the stall door as he groomed the steel grey mustang named Kay-too (a name a young Cassian had appointed for it, since the horse reminded him of Kay, his father’s mount with similar coloring).

“You’re more than welcome to try,” Cassian told her, “but even Carlos can’t ride this one. He’s too skittish around most people.” Cassian rubbed the horse’s neck, just behind his ear, and Kay relaxed under his touch. “We rescued him, so he probably had some bad experiences before he came here, isn’t very trusting now. My father was about ready to sell him when I started riding him.”

“Or you’ve specifically trained him to react that way to the strangers wandering around so you have one that’s all your own,” Jyn ventured, her tone teasing.

Cassian laughed in response, putting a finger to his lips. “Don’t tell my mother.”

The conversation descended into silence, Cassian’s brush and the other horses shuffling in their stalls the only sounds in the barn.

“My brother and I ride out to go check on the cattle at the end of the day,” Cassian blurted out after a minute. “You should join us.”

Jyn raised her eyebrows at him. “Is that allowed?”

“Not normally, but you ride better than the others,” Cassian shrugged, picking up one hoof to scrape out the dirt. “I’ll make an exception.”

“Hey, as long as it doesn’t interfere with dinner, I’m on board.” She and Cassian exchanged a smile and decided on a time to meet.

Carlos waved as she joined them that evening. “You’re finally joining us,” he remarked. “I mean, you’ve been here, what, two weeks already? I’m surprised it took my brother this long to scrape up the courage.”

Jyn was just about to ask what he meant – Cassian had no idea she could even ride when she’d arrived two weeks ago – but Cassian appeared then, insisting Jyn needed to tack her horse or they’d fall behind schedule. She didn’t miss the significant look passed between the two brothers as Cassian ushered her away.

“I bet this is beautiful as the sun sets,” Jyn said as they trotted towards the cattle. She pointed out towards the mountains, their snowy tips already glowing as the sun moved lower in the sky. “I can’t see them from my cabin.”

“Lucas will take you on a hike at sunset at some point,” Cassian assured her. “There’s a pit for a bonfire about _there_.” He pointed at a spot part way up one of the mountain trails. “It’s normally everyone’s favorite, seeing the entire ranch all lit up.” His voice sounded reverent, in awe of the beauty his home had.

“How long have you guys owned this place?” Jyn asked.

“Our parents bought it right after they got married,” Lucas said, “a million years ago or whenever that was.”

“We’ve only opened the camp a few years ago to bring in extra money after our dad died,” Cassian explained.

“Yeah, to keep that guy Krennic off or backs.” Lucas rolled his eyes.

“Krennic?” Jyn asked Cassian.

“Rich guy who bought the next property over. He really wanted this one, too.”

“Never understood why,” Lucas said, his voice distracted as he looked out over the herd. “Doesn’t do anything legitimate with his land. Just kinda keeps it for the hell of it.”

“Mom was tempted to sell this place for a bit,” Cassian told her. “It’s worth a lot more money now than when she and dad bought it. But we were all born and raised here and, well,” he shrugged as his voice got tighter, “it’s our last piece of dad. No one _wanted_ to sell it, so Estrella came up with a plan to build this.”

Jyn hummed her understanding. That explained the kind of stress the Andors went through to keep this place alive and the guests returning. Jyn thought of the last piece she had of her mother – a crystal pendant she wore around her neck at all times – and then pictured selling it. She shivered at the thought.

“Must be weird, though, having stranger come and invade your family’s home.”

Cassian smiled at her. “I’ve enjoyed this summer.”

 

* * *

 

 

Jyn had the honor of meeting Orson Krennic herself a few days later when the man stopped by for what Cassian sarcastically referred to as a “neighborly chat.”

“All his visits do is stress out my mother,” Cassian complained when he appeared just after breakfast and Jyn could see why. The man was pompous, that much was clear, even from a distance. He held himself like he stood taller than he was and wore a loose, white shirt stolen directly from the set of an old western (“Who wears white to a ranch, anyway?” Cassian sneered, and Jyn couldn’t help up agree). His hair was too neatly combed and his hands too soft to have ever spent a day doing manual labor in his life. The entire Andor family was on edge while he was on the property.

“Come on,” Cassian suggested as the sun started to set over Krennic’s visit. “Let’s get out of here for a bit.”

Cassian led her along the river in a different direction than they traditionally hiked. A jagged rock formation jutted out from the shores of the river. Hidden in the middle was a flat rock surrounded by high sides, creating a natural seat the terrain.

“This was my spot when I was a kid,” Cassian told her. “Whenever I had a fight with one of my siblings, my parents knew to find me here.”

“It’s relaxing,” Jyn said, leaning back against the rock. The shaded air between the rocks was vastly cooler than the air outside and the bubbling river created wonderful background noise.

“I’m glad you think so,” Cassian said, settling next to Jyn. Their elbows knocked and their fingers brushed. For a moment, neither of them moved, before Jyn moved her hand over his, interlocking their fingers.

“You’re leaving soon,” Cassian noted, his thumb brushing over Jyn’s knuckles.

Jyn nodded. “Just a few days.”

“I’m glad you came this summer, but I’ll miss you when you leave.”

Glancing over at him, Jyn felt a tug on her heartstrings. Cassian had made the summer so much less lonely than she had imagined, given her someone to connect to while she was so far away from her father. “I’ll miss you too, Cassian.”

His eyes flickered between her eyes and her lips for a moment. He hesitated just a moment too long, because as soon as his head began to move in, a noise startled them backwards.

“Cassian!” Lucas shouted, his voice echoing between the rocks. Jyn and Cassian scrambling onto higher ground to find Lucas. “Come on,” he waved when they came into view, seeming unsurprised to find Jyn alongside his brother. “Mom’s going to notice if you’re missing from dinner.”

 

* * *

 

 

Three days later, Jyn’s bags were packed and sitting outside her cabin’s door, ready whenever Papa arrived to drive her back to Phoenix. She’d barely seen Cassian over the last few days, though whether that was because of any lingering awkwardness over their encounter – maybe he’d gone over all the reasons why kissing a girl who’d be leaving in the next few days was a bad idea and decided to let her down gently – or because he was busy with his duties on the ranch, Jyn wasn’t certain.

She’d resigned herself to never learning one way or the other as she spotted her father’s car driving along the long entrance road to the property when she heard her name called out. She turned and found Cassian, slightly breathless and still smelling of the barn, running her direction.

“I couldn’t let you leave just yet,” he told her, grabbing hold of her shoulders lightly.

“Oh really?” Jyn asked, her tone bordering on sarcastic. “And just when will I be free to go?”

“After I’ve done this,” he said and pressed his lips against hers, one hand coming up to frame her face. He pulled back after a moment, his eyes still closed, resting his forehead against hers. “But I’ll miss you.”

“If you ever miss me too much,” Jyn said, pulling a piece of paper out of her pocket and stuffing it into his hand. When she’d writing the note, Jyn worried she might have been following too much of the script of a romantic comedy, but she was glad she had it now. “Give me a call sometime.”

“I’ll do that,” he promised her, pocketing the paper. He glanced over her shoulder. “But, for now…”

“I suppose it’s goodbye for now, Cassian Andor.”

“Goodbye, Jyn Erso.”

She hefted her bag onto her shoulder, flashing back to when she’d been so reluctant to follow Cassian at the beginning of the summer. Who would have guessed she’d find it so difficult to walk away at the end of it?

“Hello, Papa,” she greeted, throwing her arms around his neck in a hug. “I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too.” He held her close for a moment, before pulling back with a twinkle in his eye. He looked over to where Cassian stood waving before saying, “I take it that means you had a good summer, Stardust.” Galen barely contained the laughter in his voice as she dropped her bags in the trunk.

Gazing around at the beautiful landscape one last time, her eyes lingering on the boy leaning against the front porch railing a moment longer, she smiled. “You could say that.”

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi over on Tumblr! I'm [RxbxlCaptain](https://rxbxlcaptain.tumblr.com/)!


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